Grandmother's Turn John, Tom and Sally were visiting grandmother and grandfather at the farm.
One day when the postman came down the road, he brought the children a letter from their mother.
Sally read the letter.
Oh, listen, she cried.
Mother is coming.
She will be here Saturday afternoon.
Let's do something to surprise her. said Grandmother.
Can you think of something she would like?
I know something Mother likes, said Tom.
She likes gingerbread with good fresh butter on it.
We all like it too.
Yes, cried Sally.
Let's make some gingerbread when Mother comes, Grandmother said.
I'll show you how to make gingerbread and Grandfather will get the butter in town Friday.
Oh, Grandmother, said Tom.
Let us children make the butter in your old churn that is down in the cellar.
Grandmother thought for a minute.
You can try, she said.
We must have sour cream to make butter.
We will save the cream from the milk that the cows give tonight.
It will be sour enough to churn by Saturday morning.
Won't that be fun? cried Sally.
It will be hard work, said Tom, that each of us can do part of it.
When Grandfather milked the cows that evening, the children helped him carry the milk from the barn to the house.
Then, Grandmother put the milk into big pans.
Saturday morning, every pan had thick sour cream on top.
The children took off the cream and put it into the churn.
Now, who will churn first? asked Grandmother.
Let Sally try it, said Tom.
So Sally began to churn.
At first it was easy.
Up and down went her arms.
In a short time Sally became tired, but she kept on working.
She made up this little song.
All the cream to butter turns as it churns, churns, churns.
Let me churn now, said John.
John was too short to reach the churn.
So Tong got a box for him to stand on.
When John began to churn, he made up a song, too.
He sang, It will turn, turn, turn as I churn, churn, churn.
Soon, Grandmother said, John, your arms must be tired.
Who is next?
Tom took his place at the churn and worked with all his might.
He made up a song like this.
Hurry, hurry, little churn, and the cream to butter turn.
By and by, Grandmother opened the churn and showed the children little pieces of butter.
The butter is coming, she said.
Now churn very slowly.
Soon all the butter was in a few big pieces.
Grandmother took it out of the churn and put it into a big bowl.
Then she poured cold water over the butter and showed the children how to wash the buttermilk out of it.
When mother comes, said Tom, we will ask her to guess what we made for her supper.
Next, The children helped Grandmother make the gingerbread.
They had just taken it from the oven when Grandfather called.
It's time to meet Mother.
At suppertime, Sally brought in the gingerbread.
Then, John carried in a dish with a cover on it.
Now, Mother, he said, you must guess what else we made to surprise you.
It is in this dish.
It is yellow as gold, said Sally.
It is good on gingerbread, said Tom.
The cows helped make it, said John.
Mother laughed.
That's easy enough, she said.
It's butter.
But how did you children make butter?
Then they told her how they had made the butter in Grandmother's old churn.
Mother said with a smile, I learned to make butter in that old churn when I was a little girl.
